THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has flagged two groups offering investment opportunities to the public without secondary licenses from the commission.
In advisories on its website, the corporate regulator named The Filipino Financial Breakthrough Program/Financial Breakthrough Program (Financial Breakthrough) and One Market Global (OMG) as entities soliciting investments without authorization.
Through its investigation, the SEC said it found that Financial Breakthrough is running its investment scheme through Facebook, enticing the public to open an account and follow several steps to earn up to P125,400.
Opening one account would cost P18,660 and seven accounts would cost P130,620. Investors would then be entitled to a sign up bonus of P12,000, a referral bonus of P11,550, a pairing bonus of P16,800, an additional bonus of P33,600 if he/she gets to enroll four persons, a P1 million insurance by AXA, and free products from Royale Business Club, Inc.
The SEC said offering these bonuses in exchange of an investment is equivalent to offering securities, which in order to be legal, has to be registered with the SEC.
The SEC said Financial Breakthrough does not have a record of registration with the commission, nor does it have a license to solicit investments and sell securities, therefore its operation is violating the Securities Regulation Code.
In the case of OMG, the SEC said the group operates through a Facebook page and a YouTube uploader under the name “Pambansang Samaritano.” Both platforms offer opportunities for passive income, specifically, a return of 5.88-6% daily or 176–353% for 30 to 60 days.
OMG claims to be trading in the foreign exchange market, and offers referral bonuses for members that would get to invite more investors. Promotion materials from the group claim one could earn up to P627.75 million through referrals.
The SEC said OMG does not have records with the commission, and is therefore unauthorized to be running an investment business. While it claims to be registered with the Department of Trade and Industry under the name “On. Ma. Glo. Marketing,” OMG is violating the Securities Regulation Code with its operations.
“The public is advised not to invest or stop investing in any investment scheme being offered by any individual or group of persons allegedly for or on behalf of (the identified companies…),” the SEC said.
As a penalty, salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents that acted on behalf of Financial Breakthrough or OMG may be fined up to P5 million, imprisoned for up to 21 years, or both. — Denise A. Valdez
